This invention is in the field of beverage dispensing apparatus embodying cooling means.
It has been known in the beverage dispensing art to provide an insulated container of water through which coils for conducting the beverages extend. The beverages are supplied to the coil from a suitable source and withdrawn therefrom at a dispensing station. Such apparatus are also provided with refrigerating systems including a refrigerant evaporator coil immersed in the body of water in the tank referred to. It has also been customary to operate such apparatus by causing the evaporator coil to form a body of ice on itself, which ice is exposed to the water in the tank and in fact formed therefrom. The purpose of the ice bank is to permit use of a relatively small compressor to build ice during slow periods and draw upon it during heavy draw periods. As the water absorbs heat from the beverage to be cooled, it melts ice from the body of ice formed on the evaporator coil to remove from the water the heat absorbed from the beverage. Such dispensers and coolers will be referred to as being of the "ice bank" type. However, when operated at heavy peak loads, particularly where a plurality of different beverage coils are in the tank, the ice does not present a sufficently large surface area to the water to effect efficient cooling of the beverage. In an effort to overcome such shortcomings it has been proposed to increase the capacity of the refrigerating system, thus increasing the cost and energy consumption, thereof to provide a larger body of ice but even such larger bodies of ice would have smooth outer surfaces and only a slightly increased cooling capacity.